Magic: The Gathering artist Ryan Pancoast joins Magic Untapped to talk about the three pieces of artwork he's made for the collectible card game that are most important to him.
And that's just three pieces of art out of the more than 200 card illustrations he's done for Magic including those popular with players like Baylen, the Haymaker, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, and Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar.
But one of the pieces of work he's done for the game that stands out amongst all of the rest is one, Saheeli, the Gifted, which features a very special person in his life.
"I was able to use my beautiful wife, Shelly, as a model for that piece," he explains. "It's a special part of my portfolio."
Saheeli, the Gifted was also Pancoast's first planswalker card he illustrated.
WATCH: RYAN PANCOAST TALKS ABOUT HIS MOST CHERISHED MTG ILLUSTRATIONS
The next piece he chose is really a two-for-one, as it's a pair of closely related cards -- Ranger of Eos and Ranger-Captain of Eos -- that each share something in common beyond just the cards' names. Pancoast used the same model for both pieces, with the latter basically being an "aged-up" version.
"I used my former college roommate as a model for that one...and a few years later [Wizards of the Coast] wanted to create an older version of Ranger of Eos and so he agreed to model again," says Pancoast. "This time [he's] a little more grey, so it worked out perfectly."
Overall, the artist finds Ranger-Captain of Eos to be one of his best works to date.
There is, though, one other piece of art he's done for the game that still stands out amongst most all of the rest: Mox Tantalite.
"Before I even started I bought a little gem online that's pretty close to what appears on the card -- it was made of metallic metal and little flecks of gold and it was really an attractive piece," explains Pancoast. "So I set that up in a little diorama setting and made out of clay the base that the mox tantalite is hovering over."
These references helped Pancoast to create the hyper-realistic look he was able to achieve with oil paints for Mox Tantalite's art.
"That really made the piece stand out among my portfolio as a realistic piece but also a piece that...[is] really striking on the card," he shares.
You can find more of Ryan Pancoast's artwork, as well as playmats and more, on his website.
